A Halloween Tale
by kdoc27
Summary: Ancient times, Marco and Dylan and the Del Rossi curse.
1. Chapter 1

A Halloween Tale **kdoc27** Current Location: . Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: The Ramones, Alan Parsons, Collective Soul

It is the year 1771 To be a lord, to have lands and people dependent upon you and your family for their well being and financial stability.  
>To have fine old 'respectable' and 'Honored' family name.<br>Surly such wealth, and prestige would bring joy and ease, and pride to any man. Normally that would be just the case...

If, you are the sixth baron of Del Rossi, you might find that you have an equal amount of fear and unease to deal with as well.  
>You see This baron was living under a curse...<p>

In the small, but usually peaceful county of Rossi, the so called peasants (for very few of them could actually be called poor) the earth is good and the harvest plentiful. The livestock is healthy and strong and produce fine offspring, a single birth of colt or calf being a rare thing.

The children are bright, cheerful, and generally just as healthy as the livestock.

Except for the male children of the baron...

The first-born, and if he's lucky only son of the baron seems as normal and robust as any other child at first.  
>It is when the child gets to the stage at which they should be able to tell one color from another that the difference becomes clear to the once hopeful parents.<p>

They soon become aware that the child is seeing in only black and white...

Music is only a different type of 'noise' to them.  
>The sound of a cart passing on the street is no different from the playing of a piano or lute, or any other instrument...<p>

The wise parent does not dwell on what is lacking, and if this is done skillfully enough, the child manages quite well for a long time.

The whole county is aware of the curse, and it is rarely spoken of.

Time will do the rest...

As long as the boy marries a girl he is in love with( and it must be a love match, no matter the 'station' of the girl), before he turns seventeen all remains well.  
>Well... normal, for them,anyway...<p>

Their courtship runs a different course from most.

When these lads fall in love with a girl, the color of her hair is the first true color they are able to see.  
>When that love is returned, and she kisses him for the first time, he is suddenly able to see all colors, just like anyone else.<p>

It's a good thing the family fortunes have done well, and they remain prosperous, it makes the locals, and a few visiting hopefuls more willing to give their daughters to a 'cursed ' family.  
>The fact that love can happen with any girl, from drudge to duchess, and is the only real requirement allows these boys a wider variety of choice than most.<p>

The constant parade of girls usually insures that they escape the most terrible parts of the curse...

You see if the boy reaches the age of seventeen without choosing a wife, the only color they begin to be able to see ... Is red...

After that the rage comes...

In this rage they have been known to rip their hair out, tear off their clothes, and just generally destroy anything within reach; furniture, wall-hangings, dishes, anything.

There is special room in the castle; the first baron had part of a wine-cellar converted just for this purpose, to hold the unwise one who waits too long...

It begins at about noon on the day after their seventeenth birthday and lasts until midnight.  
>At every full moon that finds them still unwed it returns...<br>And during each occurrence they age ten years...

The girls are not nearly so happy as their parents, for these 'lucky' girls will never be divorced...  
>Though possibly widowed...<br>The last part of the curse either keeps their husbands honest, or ends them.

Black and white be all ye see  
>Pale s all left unto me<p>

None shall sing  
>None shall dance<br>Music strike thin ear aslant

Seek a bride both low and high  
>Lest ten and seven years do fly<br>If ye yet remain unwed  
>color ye'll have<br>Tho' none but red

Red of blood  
>Red of rage<br>Rage and age  
>Decade for day<p>

Be she dark  
>Or be she fair<br>First hope  
>The color of her hair<p>

At loves first kiss  
>See all as new<br>Be ye true  
>Seek not her heart to rend<br>Or sunset next  
>Ye meet yer end<p>

Luna  
>Vesta<br>Hechate  
>As I will<br>So mote it be

The beautiful tapestry hangs in a poorly lit, and not often visited L-shaped corner on the first floor of the family library.  
>It was commissioned by the first baroness of Del Rossi.<p>

The baroness, Olivia Maria, hoped that at some time in the future one of them would have the courage to break it.  
>Unfortunately, she did not live to see the finished work.<br>She could've warned them...

The baron, Claudio Ivar, took it to a priest; to see if there was some way to break or at least lessen the effect of it.  
>The priest, being a wise and well traveled man had come into contact with a great many curses before. and saw at once...<br>Good catholic that he was, he knew the church would never sanction it.  
>He explained to the baron.<br>Good catholic that he was determined to become, he agreed with the priest, and gave a 'corrected' version of it to the seamstress who'd been commissioned to make the tapestry.

Claudio, too concerned with appearances, never realized he was dooming his family to a seemingly unbreakable curse.

Angelo Olav, the cause of the trouble; died by his own hand about three months after his marriage.

This shame couldn't be covered up..  
>Too many people found out.<p>

His priest couldn't help him this time.  
>No suicide may be buried in holy ground, this could not be sanctioned either...<p>

Some of the things Claudio said to the priest... I'll not repeat!

The final (at least for a while) that he told him, was that he would bury his son in 'The Old Way', and that he'd better not (if he valued his health) interfere!

Claudio held a 'wake' for the boy.  
>This drunken party lasted for days.<br>On the third day of it, a small sailing ship; loaded with all of the things that Angelo loved to eat, drink or wear, and his best armor, favorite swords and shields.  
>Angelo himself was laid out in a richly appointed room inside the ship.<p>

This ship was then towed out where the waves would catch it and take out to sea, and set ablaze.

The baron seemed to loose his mind for a time...

The heir was dead.  
>His beloved Olivia was gravely ill.<br>His new daughter-in-law was with child, but, as she was also in mourning, her health was in danger.

He thought of the girl his son had trifled with.  
>He thought of the tale her mother had told his wife when she delivered a copy of the curse to her.<p>

Eventually, he thought of Michael...  
>His youngest.<p>

Michael, the poet, the artist, the mathematician.

Michael.

Who loved ...

Other boys...

Tags: marco/dylan. marco forever

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><p>( <span>Leave a comment<span> )


	2. Chapter 2

Halloween Tale II **kdoc27** Current Location: pub.lib. Current Mood: bored Current Music: very old Bee Gee's

Her name was Laurrett.  
>She was sixteen years old...and in love!<p>

Angelo, the baron's oldest son and heir was her lover... and , she was sure now, the father of the child she carried...  
>The 'roses had not bloomed' for two months.<br>She had always been as regular as the tides...  
>Still something made her wait to tell him.<br>To tell anyone...

Laurrett's brother, Laurrent, who was in love with the baron's youngest son, Michael, was the only one she trusted with her secret, mostly because he had known even before she was sure.

Laurrent, her twin, often just 'knew' things about his sister, their mother and father, and sundry other people who were close to him.

So did Laurrett.

She could tell about the weather, the meanings of dreams, she could make herbal medicines almost as well as her grandmother.  
>They made charms and 'lucky' bracelets and the like for for any who asked, never thinking much of it...<br>She could make-up spells that worked, without magic circles, blood, hair or quite a few of the 'trappings' employed by most who dealt in such things for money, or only to frighten the gullible.  
>It was just something that had always been part of the family history.<p>

No one had ever thought it strange, and certainly not evil...

Some can, most cannot.  
>Nice to be able to call upon now and then, but only the bravest, or( though they never thought of themselves that way) kindest, and most innocent ever married them.<p>

Most people, while allowing that such comes in handy...now and again, couldn't imagine having someone who could...say...bring you the thing you were looking for (or find it before you did) without being told what it was, or that you were looking !

So, when she over heard old Paoula, who worked up at the castle telling her mother of the party to announce Angelo's engagement to a neighboring lord's daughter Laurrett opened her mind; reaching out for Angelo with everything she had.

He was with his father...

He was getting himself ready to tell her what he 'had' to do...

He loved her...

He wanted her..

But...  
>He would do his 'duty'.<p>

In his mind he was already composing the letter her would send to her.  
>Michael would bring it when he came to meet Laurrent in the woods tonight.<p>

She would be in the woods...but nowhere near their path...

There was a place of power...  
>She had discovered it by accident... a clearing ringed in Rowan trees...<p>

Laurrett rarely used the things her grandmother had taught her before she died...

Tonight, she would...  
>Angelo had given her a ring...a ring that he had worn for years...<br>He had given it to her because the tiny sapphire in it matched her eyes.

He had forgotten that the Del Rossi crest was etched into the silver, under the stone.

Laurrett was so consumed with pain, misery, and her will to make the whole Del Rossi family, well all except Michael pay, that she never even thought to listen in on the baron's thoughts...

Claudio knew of his youngest son's plan.

He had asked his priest for advice...

The cut she made on her wrist bled slowly...  
>She had plenty of time to write the words she'd chosen.<br>The ball of spider-silk she had packed the wound with, and tight binding were hidden beneath her long sleeves.

That she chose a dress with an unmended pocket, was surely an accident..?  
>Surely there was no caring spirit watching...?<br>One who wanted this tale to have a better ending than the one unfolding...? 

A spirit who knew what should be...but was/is unwilling to force his creatures to do what they should;one who wanted/wants them to do it because it's right...for love?

A spirit tired of trying to teach love the way it really is, but unwilling to give up yet.

One, who still tells the lying, thieving accuser that freewill is not a mistake...is in fact the only way.

That a creature forced will never know the state that humans were designed for...  
>They were meant for joy.<p>

Within the ring of Rowan trees, Laurrett had found that she didn't need the written curse...  
>The words were hers.<p>

Her mother was bending to pick up the written curse from the floor of her daughter's bedroom...

The muffled screams from the gagged boys' mouths had finally stopped...

Tied back to back on the stake,their fingers had remained clasped...

"Now all we have to do is find the sister!" She heard on of the men say...

She understood then what the smell was...

Not roasting pork...

She noticed the pile of clothes on the ground then...  
>Her brother's cloak...<br>And Michael's.

Now she was glad she'd thought of her brother and his lover's pain in writing her spell...

Slipping silently through the woods, she came to her favorite spot on the narrow strand of beach.  
>Unwrapping her wrist, she sat down to wait.<p>

She would be gone with the tide...


	3. Chapter 3

III **kdoc27** Current Location: pub.lib.Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: A. p.-the gold bug,(al)A.A. / Bee Gee's-(al) Trafalgar

Marco, the only son of the sixth baron of Del Rossi is about to turn sixteen, and he is in love!  
>He and his mother are hiding it from his father, the baron, but they both know that it must come out soon...<p>

His father will not approve, but his mother has a plan...

You see Marco is in love with his father's new horse trainer.

Dylan.  
>The the tall, strawberry-blond, broad-shouldered, long-legged,wonder...<br>Dylan...  
>His eyes are the color of the sky over the mountains..<br>His chest goes on forever...  
>Dylan, Dylan, Dylan!<br>His laughter seems to ring through Marco's whole body, and soul...

Dylan had only intended to pass through the region.

He was almost nineteen years old now...  
>He has been traveling about doing various types of labor, from farm work to to taking care of the fine racing horses that some of the rich land-owners are beginning to buy and race just for sport.<p>

Horses, that was really his specialty.  
>They had always trusted him, and would do all sorts of things for him; even on just meeting him.<br>He could calm an agitated animal with very little effort.  
>The laughing, teasing,and gentle stroking he never seem to lack patience for had worked wonders on enough of the high-spirited thoroughbreds in the area that his fame was beginning to spread.<p>

It had been at one of these races that Carmine had met him.

Dylan had walked into a stall with a kicking, nearly screaming horse; taking hold of the reins he began talking to it in that half-laughing way that he had,(he had had quite a strong grip too) and soon the animal was standing, listening to him.

The expensive, easily-stressed animal trembled as he examined it, and found a place on its hoof where a small stone had gotten under the shoe.  
>Dylan removed the stone, and told the owner what to treat the sore spot with, and how long it would be before the horse could be raced again.<p>

The local Vet', who'd been called for to see what he could do showed up then, and approved of Dylan's suggestions on the subject, and Carmine decided then and there to hire the young man, if he was interested.

A friendship had sprang up quickly between his son and his excellent new trainer/horse doctor.  
>Carmine was glad to see his son finally taking an interest in a sport of some kind.<p>

Things having worked out so well, lately, Carmine has been racking his brains for a way to get Dylan to agree on a permanent position with him.

Rosalia knows Carmine wants to win, he loves the fame, and envy; she hopes he also wants to be the one to break the family curse.  
>The chance to be remembered with such distinction should be enough to tempt him...<br>Soon she will tell him of her suspicion... and her hope.

Rosalia, with her passion for cleaning, and organizing, has found the old and barely legible original copy of the curse.  
>She believes she understands the meaning of the lines that were left out of the tapestry...<p>

Till like takes like  
>Here in this place<br>And wed  
>This curse of mine<br>Shall never break  
>Tho I it's maker be long dead<p>

Her son.  
>Her Marco.<br>Her miraculous son could be the one, after all this time...

Marco Aurelio Felice Del Rossi, son of Carmine and Rosalia...

The first Del Rossi in generations, to be able from childhood to not only hear music as something other than noise...but to be able to play and to sing it as well!

There is a painting of a young man among the oldest of the family portraits, the likeness is remarkable...  
>His name was ...<br>Michael.

Today, he and Dylan are out gathering herbs. One of the beautiful animals that Dylan tends so well has a cough.

( )

Dylan has always been good at making medicines from herbs and various spices.  
>It runs in his family.<br>Though it was rare for the skill to be inherited by a boy, his grand mother was delighted; taking the boy with her she taught him all she knew of herbs and their proper uses.

She loved the bright-eyed little boy; he listened well, and learned fast!  
>The sight of the golden curls bouncing as they strolled in the woods cheered the old lady as she chose, and explained what each plant was for.<p>

She was very sad when Dylan's mother told her he had decided to leave home when he turned sixteen.

Dylan knew what his family would suffer if he stayed at home, but never dated or married.  
>He told them he would just travel around till knew how he would handle this potentially dangerous development.<p>

The golden curls were now tinged with red, but Marco loved the sight of them just as much as Dylan's grandmother had.  
>That bright bouncing loveliness was the first thing he'd seen the true color of ...<p>

Marco would never forget the day his mother took him to the stables to see the new colt his father had just received; he was grumbling and trying to talk her out of 'making' him look at something he really had no interest in, but Rosalia had promised his father...

The baron had business elsewhere, and someone had to inspect and approve the important, expensive purchase. Carmine was beginning to loose patience with a son who seemed to have no interest in most of the 'gentlemanly' sports.  
>Marco did at least love horses, and rode quite well.<p>

When they got to the stables, Rosalia greeted Dylan and asked him to bring the new colt out into the training yard for her son to approve. He did as he was asked, bringing the animal out with just a rope round it's neck. Dylan had already made friends with the new Darley- Arabian; the horse was nipping at him playfully as he walked him to where Marco stood.

Marco was leaning against the fence, looking out across the fields; he finally turned towards the approaching sound of nickering and chatter. Rosalia stood in the door-way; saying nothing, but watching her son...

Dylan remembered to remove his cap before he reached the young Baron; and he was trying, with little success, to finger-comb the riotous red-blond curls into some kind of order.

Marco's face was nearly expressionless, but the intensity of his gaze told Rosalia everything she'd expected...

(today)

Dylan had seen several patches of the very plant(horehound) he wanted, growing in a place where no one but the Baron hunted; he was away on business today, and wouldn't return before night-fall...

Dylan rested against a tree trunk, with Marco leaning on his chest. The dogs Marco had brought with him, supposedly so that they could get some exercise, would alert them if anyone came along.

Marco, still a little in shock, stared round himself, still amazed at all the things he'd never been able to see as they really are...before Dylan had kissed him...  
>Yes, they'd kissed before...but ...today...<p>

Dylan knew he was in love.  
>He also knew he had a choice to make...<p>

He could leave before Marco knew...or started to love him back...  
>Every time he thought of leaving, his heart, his very soul seemed to cry out 'No! not yet!'...<p>

Today Dylan only wanted to spend as much time alone with the beautiful, surprisingly exciting boy as he could; he had promised himself...'no thinking' today...  
>When he was alone with Marco this way...all he could seem to do was...feel...<p>

They had been laughing at something; both a little tipsy from the bottle of wine Stella, the cook had put in the picnic basket she'd packed for them.  
>Marco had leaned over and kissed Dylan on the nose...<p>

The sweetness and perfection of it had made the joy in Dylan's heart seem to explode; pulling Marco into his arms, he'd kissed him more passionately than he ever had before.

Marco had trembled, and clung to him...parting his lips for Dylan's tongue to enter and sweetly, enticingly explore...

When they drew apart, and Marco opened his eyes; the shock in them alarmed Dylan.  
>He was about to ask if he'd done something wrong...but Marco touched his lips...traced them with a fingertip...<p>

When Marco looked up...into Dylan's eyes...stared at/into them...he smiled so ecstatically, that Dylan thought his heart would burst.  
>He kissed him again, his lips and tongue moving gently, sweetly clinging...<p>

Marco took hold of Dylan's face when the kiss ended...his fingers traced gently down the older boys' cheek..

"You love me!" Marco said wonderingly, as a single tear over-flowed his now glistening eyes and slowly coursed down his face...

There were tears forming in Dylan's eyes as he choked out a surprised "How...?"

"The curse! I'd almost ..." Marco was torn between too many kinds of excitement to speak.

He looked round himself at everything...mostly he looked at Dylan...at the incredible shade of blue of those eyes...

Tags: marco/dylan.marcoforever


	4. Chapter 4

A Halloween Tale IV **kdoc27** Current Location: .Current Mood: rushed Current Music: a.p.-the gold bug,m.a.-you sang to me,acdc-who made who. c.s-staring down

one year later...

Dylan, older, and more aware of their differences, felt he should have stopped things before they got 'out of hand', but something about this boy...held him...

The way he looked at him, listened to him...touched him...

Marco could make him feel things that no other boy ever had...

There had been a few since he left home, but nothing even remotely like this...  
>When Marco smiled at him, all he wanted from life was to hold and kiss this boy forever...<p>

That the Baroness knew and approved helped, but, he just couldn't imagine where it could lead, or how it could end well...  
>The only son of a Baron...<p>

Rosalia waited until the last month before Marco's seventeenth birthday to show her husband the choice that lay before him...

She had found, bound in a strip of leather, Claudio's hand written account of the things he'd done, and why he felt he'd done the 'right' thing...

She'd spoken to the priest who was now in charge of church records.

Father Tomaz had found confirmation: a dated notation that read simply; Two unnatural creatures purged by fire, with the help of The Baron of Del Rossi. One of the creatures being his youngest son, -mghmots.(may god have mercy on their souls).

The priest told her he would share what he'd found with her husband if she wished, but beyond that he didn't see how he could help her...

Rosalia loved Carmine, and was sure he loved her, as far as that went.

She also knew that in these circumstances, the church would give him an annulment and let him remarry on the basis that he was nobility, and must have an heir...

She wondered what the effect of the curse would be on his new wife if he chose this option...

One evening, she and Marco left the castle; supposedly to tend the ailing wife of one of the Baron's farmworkers.

Carmine was drinking and playing cards with some of his friends who'd come for the week and were racing the horses they'd brought with them. Dylan was caring for these extra horses as well.

Rosalia had decided it was time to tell Marco of the plans she was working on while they could be sure of not being overheard by anyone who might tell her husband.

She had prepared them a way of escape. There was enough money to give them a new start somewhere else if Carmine made 'the wrong choice' and decided to dispose of her...

She had arranged for her cousin, another ship's captain to be just off shore in a few days...  
>Carmine would be told of the things she'd found, and shown what was recorded in the old church records, only after Rudolfo, her cousin was in place and their belongings aboard ship.<p>

If it went well Carmine need never know as the help would work with her to sneak everything back to the castle.  
>If not, they could be gone before anyone could stop them.<p>

Either way, Rudolfo had agreed to marry Marco and Dylan to save his dear cousin's only son from the rest of effects of the curse.

She told Marco all these things before she stopped the carriage outside Dylan's cottage.

Marco entered through the back door, taking Dylan by surprise.  
>The look on his face stopped Marco, and put a questioning frown on his face...<br>"What are you...?" Marco began.  
>The pouch at the older boy's waist, and the packed traveling bag at his feet said it all.<p>

Looking over at the table, Marco saw the letter there by the candle. He looked back at Dylan, his lips parted in shock...but he recovered quickly...  
>There was no way...after waiting so long...feeling fear die in the arms of love...<p>

No, he couldn't just let him/ the perfect thing that they made together... go without a fight...

Dylan couldn't look at him...  
>The mere fact of his presence had his stomaching flipping...his heart melting...<br>If he looked into those lovely, dark, mesmerizing eyes , he knew his resolve would be ...just...gone.

At the touch of that small hot hand on the side of his neck... he closed his eyes...  
>Feeling himself start to tremble.<br>Marco's fingertips touched his chin, turned his face so he'd have to look at him...

"Don't...they'll never let us...!" but Dylan never got any further.  
>At the touch of those soft lips, he was lost...<p>

Marco's legs were tight round his waist, his hands locked in the strawberry-blond curls.  
>The world beyond was less than a memory...<p>

By the time Marco and his mother arrived back at the castle, Dylan was sound asleep...dreaming of places far away, beyond the sea...

So, Carmine was told...

And he made the wrong choice.

A few months after his wife and son...and his wondrous horse-trainer...vanished...

Carmine went out carousing with some of his racing buddies.

He went into the 'back-rooms' with some girls...

The sudden storm that blew up on his way back to the castle was really quite violent.

It must have been the lightening that frightened his horse...  
>Or perhaps the thunder...<p>

Surly the horse didn't see the tall blond-haired young man and the shorter dark-haired one..  
>They were only visible for a moment, the Baron wasn't even sure he'd seen them...<p>

Either way the horse reared and bolted suddenly.

Carmine held on, but couldn't avoid the tree limb that knocked him onto the rocks...cracking his skull...

The lightening, as I said, was quite something that evening.

The bolt that struck the castle set it on fire.

They got it put out...eventually, but it was pretty much ruined... As was the church...

The church was hit more than once...

We've never seen another storm like that.

The new church took years to build, but it's much larger and finer.

What?

The old one?

Why, it burnt clean to the ground, even the cellars...never saw anything like it.

Tags: marco/dylan.marcoforever


End file.
